Twenty-one years passed between the Act being passed and the report being published. We need timelines and they need to be speeded up. We need the use of data for proper forward planning and multi-annual funding to ensure services reach the children who need them most. I welcome the publication of the report. I suggest a review period of two or three years in future to keep on top of the complexities and the urgency.…
TDs / Gillian Toole
Gillian Toole
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
147
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
41,514
words spoken in the chamber
Across 115 contributions
407
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
61
topics asked about
Across 16 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 147 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 115 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 | 8 |
| March 2025 | 4 | 5 |
| April 2025 | 3 | 9 |
| May 2025 | 6 | 14 |
| June 2025 | 10 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 4 | 9 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 0 | 3 |
| October 2025 | 0 | 12 |
| November 2025 | 14 | 6 |
| December 2025 | 8 | 5 |
| January 2026 | 4 | 9 |
| February 2026 | 8 | 3 |
| March 2026 | 9 | 1 |
| April 2026 | 19 | 9 |
| May 2026 | 4 | 1 |
| June 2026 | 10 | 5 |
| July 2026 | 15 | 3 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 3 |
| September 2026 | 21 | 2 |
| October 2026 | 8 | 6 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 25 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Worked out by computer from the subject headings of each TD's questions, giving more weight to headings few TDs use. It shows shared subjects, not shared views.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Meath East 29 November 2024 to now
- party Independent 29 November 2024 to now
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas Cheann-Comhairle, an Aire agus an Teachtá Ó Snodaigh as ucht an díospóireacht seo anocht. I have read through the report of the interdepartmental group on Dublin city and the task force recommendation. Pardon me if I am beginning to wonder if I am getting mixed up here. I see a reference to OPW management and a transfer. I do not see a mention of privatisation so if there is another docu…
Everybody here is ageing. We are here to represent older people and it is incumbent on us to act with a focus on solutions and a sense of urgency. Most people will, hopefully, age well at home with the necessary community and healthcare supports initiated by older person's councils through the Age Friendly Ireland initiatives. I think of Ita Healy and Barbara McCool in Meath, who are tireless champions for older peop…
Gabhaim buíochás leis an gCeann Comhairle, an Aire Stáit agus an Teachta Uí Ruairc. I thank Deputy O'Rourke for raising this most important issue. I thank the Minister of State for providing the Minister for Health's quite comprehensive briefing notes. I have only skimmed through them, but I will refer to them.
I have to state the obvious. We have an ageing and increasing population, with a rise in chronic diseases,…
In this instance, I am not going to duplicate all of the statistics and summaries of the review to date that Members have discussed. I will approach this from the point of view of what may happen next and the human impact. There must be a compassionate approach to supporting the children and families through the review process without sterile communications and an impersonal review process.
Having worked in healthca…
5. Deputy Gillian Toole asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the timeline for the single-phase delivery of the new campus for Dunboyne College of Further Education and Training, Dunboyne, County Meath, to be funded from as many relevant streams as possible, including but not limited to SOLAS, sports capital and national training funding. [26525/25]
I wish to ask both the Minister and the Minister of State the timeline for the single-phase delivery of the new campus for Dunboyne College of Further Education and Training, Dunboyne, County Meath, to be funded from as many relevant streams as possible, including but not limited to SOLAS, sports capital funding, national training funding and national development plan funding. This college began with 50 students and …
I thank the Minister of State for the updated information. I reiterate that this college is delivering. At various times in this Chamber, we have discussed the need for occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and the development of apprenticeship programmes, as well as construction studies. LMETB colleges can deliver that. This process began in 2015, when Dunboyne was added to the building list of the…
We are absolutely united in the spirit of getting this project progressed. Again, I would push the case in this instance based on the financial implications and the history of the project. There is no doubt of the intention in the programme for Government, where the intention is to communicate, collaborate and encourage more interdepartmental and intradepartmental collaboration. That is why I make the suggestion for …
Go raibh maith agat. The Irish people have endured an incredible amount in the last five years. Every virtue has been tested in some extremely positive ways and, sadly, some negative ways. Lives have been changed irrevocably. To advance, we must reflect, review and learn. We must rethink our duty to future generations.
First, we had two intense years of SARS-CoV-2, Covid-19. It is worrying that the Covid evaluation …
I welcome the infrastructure cross-departmental committee, the housing activation office and the child poverty unit - tús maith leath na hoibre. I think we can do better and can aim higher. We owe that to the people of this country after their endurance and forbearance over the last five years. Several times at the Business Committee, I have raised the topic of migration, something that merits urgent positioning on t…
As the very proud daughter, niece, granddaughter and friend of primary, secondary and tertiary educators, I very much welcome this opportunity for statements today. I will not repeat what I have heard from other contributors. The book Poor by Dr. Kathriona O'Sullivan of Maynooth University points to the importance of education as a freedom, as a gateway and as being life changing. The importance of the one special te…
As a teenager, I was angered, interested and repulsed by the atrocities of the Second World War, as experienced through history classes, documentaries, Anne Frank's diaries and, in later years, exacerbated by visits to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dachau and Treblinka. Surely this would not and could not happen again. An end to man's inhumanity to man, morality and Maslow would ensure that we had moved on, but no. The daily n…
I hope so. Gabhaim búiochas leis an gCeann Comhairle agus an Aire. I intend to share time with my colleague and therefore I have cut my cloth appropriately, so indulge me.
My background is in healthcare, and a maxim of healthcare is "Let food be your medicine". In these times, food production and security, farm families and appropriate balanced land use are of paramount importance to Ireland. We live in a time of in…
Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire Stáit. Again, on this subject, we have unity in the House. We have a shambolic and an extortionate process that must change as a matter of urgency. I will ask a few questions as to why. Is there a problem with testers? Are there human resource issues? Is it population increase related? Is it a symptom of a public transport deficit? If we do not analyse the reasons, then we will not …
Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire agus leis an Aire Stáit. I should stick to the title of economic enabler, but the social care benefits to be gained from the power of further and higher education cannot be ignored. Not a day goes by in this Chamber or in our communities that we do not discuss the plight of children with additional needs and special abilities. We get briefings from various healthcare groups and supp…
To celebrate unity and long-term peace with the objectives of integration and democratic co-operation were the objectives of Europe Day and of Robert Schuman in particular with his declaration in 1950. These are very noble objectives which are essential to underpin the coalescence and co-operation of European countries over the past 75 years. A bugbear of mine is the focus on, and at times an obsession with, economic…
In the case of the Farrelly commission report, the phrase "Man's inhumanity to man" springs to mind. Ordinarily, that is reserved for mistreatment during warfare, but it is very relevant in this instance.
The value that we have placed on people, that was placed on Grace, the social care teams and the members of those teams who came forward in a whistleblowing capacity and the tenet of treating others the way we want…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus leis an Aire as a bheith anseo inniu. I will be brief, in case my colleague comes in.
There is agreement and unity across the House on this most serious and life-changing issue for the youngest in our population. I will confine my comments to suggestions of things that are already working in communities in Meath East and can be extended. This suggestion is not i…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as a bheith anseo um thráthnóna.
I welcome the updated draft of the NPF. There are several opportunities here to correct the mistakes of the tiger times. I speak as somebody from east Meath, a commuter county which has been seriously impacted. I sincerely hope the concerns of residents will be listened to and opportunities that present will be enacted.
The focus on compact growth…
Gabhaim buíochas leis na hAirí as ucht bheith anseo um thráthnóna. In relation to CHI, I concur with everything I have heard since coming to the Chamber and in the snatches I heard throughout the afternoon when I was no in attendance. Rather than repeat what has been said by colleagues, I will focus on a few areas that I would like to see prioritised. One of them follows on from this afternoon's reform committee meet…
Hear, hear.
Gabhaim buíochas to the Independent Technical Group for tabling this motion for discussion this morning.
I will make it slightly smaller and more personal. If you run a home or small business, the word "threat" is also frequently used. There may be internal or external threats. Threat is one part of the business and sporting acronym, SWOT, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. I am a fir…
Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Is fíor an seanfhocal sin. I commend and thank the youth diversion project teams, particularly in County Meath, and juvenile liaison officers Garda Barbara Kelly and Garda Aisling Connor in Meath north and Meath south, who are doing fantastic work. I also commend the probation service officers, Louth Meath Education and Training Board, public representatives and the young people themsel…
Go raibh maith ag an Leas-Cheann Comhairle, ag an Aire agus ag Teachta Healy chun a bheith in ann caint sa díospóireacht seo. I will make just a couple of points possibly by way of solution. Number one is to deal with the most recent planning Act around commencements. Currently when planning permission is granted there is five years to construct. If the commencement period was altered to within 18 months anybody appl…